Stratospheric Balloons as a Multi Mission Platform Testbed for Scientific and Technological Applications

Abstract

The National Institute for Space Research (INPE) is responsible by technological development of remote sensing satellites, such as Amazonia and CBERS families, and small satellites for educational, scientific and technological applications, for example the BiomeSat mission. INPE's Small Satellite Division carries out activities for the small, educational, scientific and technological satellite missions has a multidisciplinary laboratory equipped for the development, integration and testing of miniaturized satellites, as well as their reception systems, ground command and control. In this context, one activity is the development of a Georeferenced Multi Mission Platform for collecting environmental data of scientific and technological experiments on board of stratospheric balloons. The main goals are an educational and technological dissemination purposes and meeting the main requirements of small satellites. The data obtained by the platform in the stratosphere can be used in investigations and studies of atmospheric phenomena and other specific experiments. The stratosphere, due to its environment presenting extreme factors of temperature, pressure and radiation, is also a viable and low-cost alternative as a stage for the development and testing of prototypes of space systems that can be sent into space. The system is composed of a Multi Mission Platform to be launched on small stratospheric balloons and one or more low-cost transportable and mobile ground stations for tracking, receiving telemetry and sending telecommands. This paper presents the INPE’s Multi Mission Platform development, which is composed by a hardware subsystem (antenna, transceptor, processor, GPS, temperature sensors, pressure sensor, power supply and thermal control), based on the CubeSat structure, and the onboard software subsystem for controlling the platform. The paper either provides the ground segment, which is composed by telemetry, tracking and command ground stations hardware subsystem and a software control subsystems. In addition, the system architecture of the multi-mission platform is formally presented. This system architecture is based on Model-Based System Engineering (MBSE). MBSE is a modern method for modeling system architectures, used by the aeronautical, automotive and space sectors, as well as in academic research. In the space area, the main adoption initiatives are by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The paper also describes the Multi Mission platform integration, control and operation planning; integration and testing of ground stations; the planning and execution of laboratory tests; radio frequency link validation tests in the open field; planning and testing in INPE's Integration and Testing Laboratory (LIT), under the leadership of multidisciplinary teams. Finally, the launch, tracking and recovery campaigns for the platform are presented. The design´s status, lessons learned, and the contributions to overcome challenges associated to development a georeferenced Multi Mission platform, and ensure the system accomplishment are presented